The former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, currently a senator, Augustin Matata Ponyo, announced on Tuesday that he will be a candidate in the presidential election scheduled for 2023 in his country.
He made the announcement at the end of a congress of his party LDG, Leadership for Development and Governance, created after splitting from his former political formation, the PPRD (People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy) of Joseph Kabila, the former Congolese president.
“I inform you that I have decided to accept your choice of me as the candidate of our party for the presidential election,” said Matata Ponyo, 57, to applause from the audience.
The former Prime Minister revealed that he has “a dream like that of Patrice Emery Lumumba to see, at the center of the continent, an economic power at the service of the Congolese, the Africans and the world.
To make his dream come true, the senator will first have to get out of trouble with the Congolese justice system. Indeed, Mr. Matata Ponyo is accused of having embezzled more than 280 million dollars planned for the construction of the Bukanga Lonzo agro-industrial park under President Kabila, accusations which he rejects. The DRC’s Constitutional Court has ruled twice in his favour, but he remains banned from travelling abroad and stripped of his immunity.
For the time being, the Independent National Electoral Commission is not yet accepting applications.